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SLAVERY IN AMERICA, 




AN 



ESSAY FOR THE TIMES. 



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.T 



BY RICHARD R. MASON. 




BOSTON: 

PRESS OF CROCKER AND BREWSTER, 

47, Wasliiiision Street. 

1853. 







SLAVERY IN AMERICA, 



AN 



ESSAY FOR THE TIMES. 




BY RICHARD R. MASON. 



BOSTON: 

PRESS OF CROCKER AND BREWSTER, 
47, Washington Street. 
' "^ 1853. 



t.^ ■ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, 
BY RICHARD R. MASON, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 






PREFACE. 



I PROPOSE to inquire into some of the facts touching the 
origin and condition of the institution of slavery, as it exists 
in the Southern States of our confederacy: and this, in 
order to the propagation o^just views on the whole subject, 
so far as may be within the circle of my influence. 

That such an inquiry may be useful at this time is 
apparent ; as well from the political agitations arising out of 
vexed questions on the subject of slavery, which have 
recently disturbed our national councils, as from the 
general prevalence of conflicting and unadvised opinions on 
this subject, which are held in the Northern and Southern 
sections of the country. 

My design is, to discuss the matter in hand, not at all in 
the spirit of a partisan, with the desire that any set of 
opinions or prejudices may prevail ; but in the simple 
character of an inquirer after truth, willing to admit the 
force of evidence coming from any quarter; and careful, 



as I would influence the opinions of others, to see that my 

own are divested of every bias of feeling or inclination. 

Whether I have adhered to that determination in the 

course of this essay, I submit, together with the work itself, 

to the candor of the public. 

R. R. M. 



ESSAY. 



No ONE who is acquainted with even a general outUne 
of American history, can have failed to remark as a strik- 
ing peculiarity among the institutions of a modern free 
people, the existence and legal recognition of a system of 
slavery. Such a system has existed in this country from a 
period very near the beginning of our colonial history ; and 
although in its origin, the practice of holding slaves was 
dependent upon legal sufferance as its only warrant ; it was 
at a very early period recognized by the colonial govern- 
ments by formal enactments, declaring the terms of the 
system, and defining who might be subjected to slavery. 
By such legal sanction, the practice was elevated to the 
position of an institution of the land. 

This was the condition of the subject at the time of the 
American revolution ; and upon the establishment of 
independent governments by the colonies, many of them 
retained the system together with the body of their existing 
statute laws. 

There are, perhaps, some ardent admirers of American 
institutions and freedom, who are in the habit of regarding 
the American people as different from the rest of the world 
in their nature, and not merely in their circumstances. 
And, doubtless, it will appear to such persons as an utter 
anomaly that the peculiar devotees of the Goddess of Liberty, 
at any period of their history, should have tolerated a 



6 



system so directly antagonistic to their own principles. 
But the difficulty will be explained, perhaps, by reflecting 
that we are, after all, but a nation of men — subject to like 
passions and infirmities as all other men in all other ages of 
the world ; although it is our good fortune to be placed in the 
enjoyment of many circumstances of pecuhar advantage for 
promoting our own welfare and advancing the interests of 
humanity. The simple state of the case, in reference to 
the admission of slavery, is this : that we have — or our 
ancestors for us — been placed in the way of temptation, 
and yielded to it. A favorable opportunity occurred for 
the indulgence of our cupidity and love of ease, by appro- 
priating to our own use the labor of others, weaker than our- 
selves; and we took advantage of the power, without 
troubling ourselves at the time about the question of right. 

So it was, that, at an early period of our existence as a 
people, and prior to our organized existence as a nation, 
African slaves were imported into this country and 
purchased by its citizens, and held as slaves for many years, 
without any other law than that of superior force. But in 
process of time, it was found expedient to pass laws in the 
several colonies, recognizing the condition of slavery, and 
defining who should be held as slaves. The year 1662 
appears to be the earliest date of the passage of such laws 
in the colony of Virginia : a period exactly forty-two years 
later than the time of the first importation of slaves into the 
country. In the year 1705, the fourth of the reign of 
Queen Anne, a statute was passed, declaring that " all 
servants imported, not christians in their native land, should 
be slaves." This was the first statute distinctly authoriz- 
ing the condition of slavery in the State of Virginia : 
though there had been others, in which slavery was 
incidentally mentioned as an existing condition. 

From this period, down to the year 1772, are to be 
found repeated enactments upon the same subject, pro- 



viding for the regulation of the slave trade and the deriva- 
tion of revenue from that source. 

This, be it remembered, was during the period of our 
political connection with Great Britain. And for some 
years previous to the dissolution of that connexion, it had 
been the policy of the mother country to restrain the 
passage of laws which might prohibit the importation of 
slaves ; although such laws were desired by many of the 
colonies, and had, indeed, been passed by the colonial 
legislature of Virginia, but were in every instance negativ- 
ed by the crown. A very pointed allusion to this circum- 
stance is made in the preamble to the Constitution of 
Virginia, which enumerates some of the causes which 
justified and led to a separation from Great Britain, and 
among these, notes the inhumane use of the negative by 
the king, in refusing the colonies permission to prohibit the 
slave trade. 

Hence it appears that, either from motives of policy or 
humanity, or both, it was the desire of the people of some 
of these colonies to exclude the slave trade from their 
shores ; and the denial of the power to do this is alleged 
as one of the causes which led to the throwing off the 
allegiance of the colonies to Great Britain. 

In pursuance of this spirit, and in evidence of their 
sincerity in its expression, we find that the legislature of 
Virginia, in the third year of the commonwealth, passed a 
law finally prohibiting the importation of slaves within the 
limits of the State. Similar laws were passed in Maryland 
about the same time. Most of the northern States had 
made like prohibitions against the traffic in slaves about the 
time of the revolution. From this sketch of the origin and 
continuance of the slave trade, and slavery as an institution 
resulting directly from it, and the fact that this took place 
under the direct, and in some instances the compulsory 
influence of the English government, a very easy deduc- 



8 



tion may be made as to tlie share which that government 
had in the establishment of the system. And the fact that 
the abolition of the slave trade commenced in this country 
about the time of the revolution, gives us some cause to 
hope that our free political institutions have exercised a 
wholesome influence on this subject ; although they have 
not yet been able to counteract the effects of a system 
which is very frequently laid to their charge, but which in 
reality, sprung up and grew to its maturity, (and so got 
beyond the control of our general government) under 
English domination and encouragement. We do not pur- 
pose to lay the whole charge of this evil to the doors of 
others, but merely suggest an application of the parable 
which shewed that a clear eye was requisite for the 
removal of a mote from a brother's eye. Enough of the 
sin rests upon us, of which we shall speak in time. 

The next point of the case, and one of most importance 
in our present design, is, the position of the slave system as 
it stood in connexion with the establishment of our present 
form of government under the Federal Constitution. During 
the lapse of time from the Declaration of Independence 
down to the adoption of the present constitution, whilst the 
old confederation existed, no provision was made in reference 
to the institution of slavery nor the further importation of 
slaves, but the whole subject was left to the disposition of 
the several States. When at length it was found necessary 
to remodel the government, and the convention of 1787 
was called for that purpose, these questions were promi- 
nently discussed and definitely settled by the action of that 
convention. 

The geographical position and natural productions of the 
several sections of the country had before this time suffi- 
ciently tested in what latitudes the slave system would be 
found profitable or the contrary. The Northern States had 
generally abandoned it as unprofitable, while the South still 



cherished the system as a source of profit, from its adapta- 
tion to their soil and productions and their mode of culture. 

Hence arose diversities of opinion and feeling upon the 
questions connected with slavery. And these diversities 
were marked as existing principally between the Northern 
and Southern States — with some very striking exceptions 
to this rule. Perhaps the best contemporary history of the 
settlement of the slave questions in their relation to the gene- 
ral government is to be found in Madison's papers, containing 
an acurate journal of all the important transactions of the 
convention of 1787. Upon this journal we shall rely ; 
sometimes quoting verbatim expressions made use of by its 
author. 

The journal reports : that shortly after the meeting of 
the convention, a committee was appointed to prepare and 
report a constitution. The first draft of the constitution as 
reported by that committee, contained an article providing 
for the free and unlimited right to import slaves. In the 
debate which arose upon this article, it was vehemently 
opposed by the Virginia delegation. One member of that 
delegation, in commenting upon this topic, denounced the 
slave trade as " an infernal traffic, originating in the avarice 
of British merchants." He said that " the British govern- 
ment had constantly checked the attempts of Virginia to 
put a stop to the trade — Maryland and Virginia had 
already prohibited the traffic — this would be in vain if 
Georgia and South Carolina be at liberty to carry it on." 
" Slaves bring the judgment of heaven on a country. As 
nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, 
they must be in this. Providence punishes national sins by 
national calamities. He lamented that some of our East- 
ern brethren, from the lust of gain, had embarked in this 
nefarious traffic." On the other hand, Robert Sherman, 
of Connecticut, was for leaving the clause as it stood. " He 
disapproved of the slave trade ; yet, as the States were 



10 



now possessed of the right to import slaves, as the public 
good did not require it to be taken from them, and as it 
was expedient to have as few objections as possible to the 
proposed scheme of government, he thought it best to leave 
the matter as we find it. It was better to let the Southern 
States import slaves, than to part with them if thej make 
that a sine qua non.''^ On a further discussion this article 
and some others were referred to a committee of eleven. 
That committee rendered their report, recommending that 
the article in question should be amended so as to give 
Congress the power to prohibit the slave trade from and 
after the year 1800, and " to lay a tax or duty on the 
importation of slaves, not exceeding the average of the 
duties laid on imports." In the discussion of this report. 
General Pinkney, of South Carolina, moved to strike out 
the words, " the year 1800," as the year limiting the 
importation of slaves, and to insert the words, " the year 
1808." This motion was seconded by Mr. Gorham, of 
Massachusetts. Mr. Madison, of Virginia, remarked, in 
opposition to the motion, " that twenty years would pro- 
duce all the mischief that can be apprehended from the 
liberty to import slaves — so long a term will be more dis- 
honorable to the American character than to say nothing 
about it in the constitution." The motion, however, pre- 
vailed upon a vote, and the article under discussion finally 
passed, as thus amended. The States of New Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, and Georgia voted in the affirmative ; 
whilst New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia 
voted in the negative. The explanation of this vote on the 
part of the Northern States, is to be found in the fact that 
there existed an understanding between them and the 
extreme Southern States on the questions of navigation 
and slavery ; by which it was agreed on the one hand, that 
the North should vote in favor of the importation of slaves, 



11 



while the Southern States should join them in allowing the 
passage of navigation laws by a bare majority in Congress. 
Both these measures were highly obnoxious to the views 
and interests of other parts of the union, and much opposi- 
tion was made to them, as well as to some other provisions 
of the constitution, which were deemed objectionable, and 
even radically so, by some of the members of the conven- 
tion, and others who lived at that time. Nevertheless, 
that constitution was adopted by the people of the States, 
under the conviction that it contained, at least, the neces- 
sary elements of a free and safe government ; and that it 
would be difficult, and perhaps impossible, for any system 
to be agreed upon which should be more nearly adapted to 
the wishes and requirements of the whole country. 

The people of that day had known and felt by actual 
experience the necessity of an eflfective general government 
for their own welfare and prosperity — nay, for their own 
existence, as a nation capable of sustaining itself. They 
were fully capable of appreciating the inestimable advan- 
tages of such a union as was proposed ; whilst at the same 
time they saw and felt that there were sectional interests 
and prejudices which must in a measure be sacrificed 
to secure the greater good. With these truths fully in 
their view, and in the liberal spirit of compromise and 
mutual concession, they deliberately adopted the constitu- 
tion as it was presented to them ; a constitution which 
no one at the time of its adoption, nor has any one who has 
read it since that day, considered to be in all respects per- 
fect and without blemish ; for it is evident that there are 
some very valid objections to the original adoption of more 
than one of its provisions. And yet it is superfluous to 
ask the question, where is the American citizen who does 
not cherish that constitution as the inestimable charter and 
safeguard of his own liberties and the peace and prosperity 
of his country ; as a sacred inheritance derived from a 



12 



venerated ancestry, the fruit of the combined "wisdom, 
patriotism and moderation of an assemblage of statesmen, 
rarely equalled, and in no age surpassed, in those qualities 
most eminently fitting them for the duties they were called 
on to fulfil. 

What is the position of the institution of slavery in 
relation to the general government of the United States, is 
a prominent question, likely to be suggested to the mind of 
a stranger whose attention has been called to the subject. 
And the answer to this important question is so plain that 
it may be given by any school boy who has read the con- 
stitution, viz. : that this institution does not fall within the 
powers conferred by the constitution on the general govern- 
ment, and therefore that it remains exclusively under the 
jurisdiction of the State Governments. So far as concerns 
the regulating of the importation of slaves into the country, 
we have already seen to what extent power was granted to 
the general government. 

It is apparent from the foregoing sketch of the action of 
the federal convention, that the slave system was by no 
means a favorite with a majority of the States represented 
in that body ; and yet they viewed it in the light of an 
existing fact, in a great measure beyond their power or 
sphere to control. They were fully aware of the evils con- 
nected with the system, and of the abuses to which it must 
ever be liable, even under the mildest laws ; and, as 
humane and enlightened men, they were alive to a sense of 
the manifest inconsistency which must be presented to the 
world, by a government whose very foundation rests upon 
the equality of rights in all men, giving express sanction to 
a system of absolute slavery, at the same time that it pro- 
mulgated its own free constitution. They saw in the sys- 
tem an element of national weakness, as well as of moral 
wrong ; and so far as their own States were concerned, they 
had generally testified their disapproval of it by the adop- 



tion of measures for its mitigation or its final removal. And 
yet, with all the circumstances of the question before their 
eyes, and a full knowledge of the condition and tendencies 
of the system, they saw very cleai-ly that it was not within 
their power or province to control it, or to coerce the other 
States into a compliance with their views of the matter ; 
and so they left the question as it stood, and proceeded upon 
their own firm convictions of the necessity for a union of 
the States, to frame a constitution upon Avhich all sections 
should agree. 

The constitution thus agreed upon, embraces a provision 
which recognises the slave system in all the States, to the 
extent of delivering up fugitives from service on demand 
made by those concerned ; making it an imperative duty 
on the part of the authorities, in all the States, even in 
those were slavery did not exist, to acknowledge its exis- 
tence in other States, and to take active measures in 
restoring escaped slaves to those who can establish a claim 
to their services under the laws of the State from which 
they came. * 

And this provision of the constitution is one upon which 
the Southern States have always relied for the protection 
of their peculiar interests. It was adopted in good faith, 
as required on the one hand and granted on the other ; a 
condition which the slaveholding States saw to be necessary 
for the security of their slave property, and the other States 
admitted as a reasonable demand under the circum- 
stances. 

And it has only been within a few years past that any 
opposition has been made against the execution of this 
clause of the constitution. But in these latter days a very 
serious outcry has arisen on this subject. Men have dis- 
covered, by the assistance of some new lights which have 
arisen, that the compact into which the American States 
entered at the time of their union, may be justly disregard- 



14 



ed upon the legal plea of immorality in tlie conditions •which 
it embraces. These new lights have discovered also the 
existence of a higher law for the regulation of the inter- 
course between the States, than the solemn compact under 
which they have jointly and severally bound themselves. 
And by that higher law they claim to mean the law of 
humanity and morality. 

In opposition to theories of this nature, I deem it to be 
the part of all who value the advantages of our govern- 
ment, to make use of the arguments which truth and 
reason will supply for their refutation. 

The fact, that there exists a party in the Northern 
States who make it their fundamental principle to oppose 
the institution of slavery at the South, and who take every 
occasion to utter and publish whatever may be adverse to 
the interests and character of the slaveholders, is suflEicient 
to make it desirable that all the circumstances of the institu- 
tion should be candidly investigated, and the position which 
it holds should be plainly pointed out, in order that there 
may be an end of misunderstanding on the subject between 
the members of the same union. But when, in addition to 
this fact, it is a notorious historical truth that no longer 
since than -within the past three years, this very question 
of the remanding of fugitive slaves entered prominently 
into the discussions in Congress ; and that since the passage 
of the law for carrying out the constitutional provision on 
that subject, there has been, and there still continues, an 
uncompromising opposition to that law in the opinions and 
exertions of a very large class of persons, it cannot be 
considered as superfluous to use every endeavor to bring 
about a just understanding on the subject in question. 

More especially, since some very active endeavors have 
been made by the opposers of the law for the propagation 
of their erroneous doctrines. Among these efforts I would 
advert to the recent popular novel written by Mrs. Stowe, 



15 



as being calculated to enlist very powerfully the sympa- 
thies of almost every reader, and, therefore, most to be 
feared in its effects in forming a dangerous public sentiment 
on the subject of resistance to a law of Congress. It may 
appear unusual, in a publication of this nature, to make so 
direct an allusion to another work, unless it is proposed to 
make it a subject of a special criticism. But my only 
apology is, that I find it most convenient to refer to the 
book in question as containing an embodiment of the error 
against which I would contend, and which I shall only 
attempt to refute by calling attention to the true position of 
the question. It is not intended to enter upon a general 
criticism of the work of which I have spoken ; nor do I 
design, in speaking of it in this place, to enter any protest 
against the intentions or the correctness of the statements 
made by the authoress ; but only so far to allude to it as it 
maintains the heretical doctrine of opposition to a wise and 
conservative law, passed in pursuance of a provision of 
the constitution. It may be admitted, for the sake of the 
argument, that all the horrors which can be conceived of 
as belonging to the slave system, are in actual operation in 
the Southern States ; and yet it will admit, at least, of a 
doubt, whether the appropriate remedy to those evils is 
to be found in opposing the laws of the country. And so 
long as there is a doubt upon this grave question, we should 
proceed very cautiously in the adoption of a remedy which 
is in itself liable to the most momentous objections. 

I think it will be apparent to every candid mind, upon 
an examination, that the carrying out of the principle of 
opposition to the fugitive slave law, can never result in the 
alleviation of the evils incident to the condition of slavery, 
but must rather tend to aggravate those evils, and to pro- 
long the continuance of the system against which the oppo- 
sition is directed. 

And first, let us consider the nature and extent of the 



16 



objections which lie to the resistance of this particular law, 
or to the adoption bj the general government of a policy 
opposed to the spirit of this law. 

It appeared in the foregoing sketch of the action of the 
Federal convention, that a prominent importance was given 
in the deliberations of that body to the settlement of the 
questions relating to slavery. It was then seen from what 
quarter came the requirement for the adoption of those 
clauses of the constitution which favor the institution of 
slavery. It appeared that the most Southern States were 
nearly interested in maintaining the slave system, and the 
further importation of slaves into the country. All the 
other States were opposed in principle to the continuance 
of the slave trade ; and even some of those States in which 
the system of slavery was established by law, were warmest 
in their opposition to the permission of the traffic by the 
constitution. But in spite of the opposition made, the 
States interested in the traffic insisted upon its continu- 
ance, and made it a condition precedent to their accepting 
the constitution. It was seen that the conservative influ- 
ence of the Northern States was requisite to the passage of 
that clause which was demanded by the South, relating to 
the slave trade. And it was emphatically stated by a dis- 
tinguished member of the convention from Connecticut, that 
" although he disapproved of the slave trade, yet he 
did not consider that the public good required it to be pro- 
hibited, and he thought it better to allow the Southern 
States to import slaves, than to part from them if they in- 
sisted upon that condition." 

It is fully apparent from all this, that the interest which 
the South had at stake in the matter, was one of the great- 
est moment, and one which they would have preferred even 
to the advantages of a union. This was plain to the 
Northern States ; as well as the fact, that it was no part of 
their office, if it had been in their power, to prohibit the 



17 



trade in slaves, or the possession of slaves by the Southern 
States so long as they were sovereign and independent. It 
follows, then, that the union, which was entered into with the 
express proviso for the recognition of slavery, does not 
entail upon the most conscientious opponents of the slave 
system any obligation, nor does it confer any right, to 
oppose that system so far as it is acknowledged in the con- 
stitution. But it does assuredly place upon them the 
obligation to fulfil every part of the compact into which 
they have entered, so long as they enjoy any of the bene- 
fits arising from it, or so long as they claim that the com- 
pact lasts. But any opposition to the execution of the 
fugitive slave law is clearly a \iolation of the compact ; for 
it was made a condition precedent to the adoption of the con- 
stitution at the South ; and those who openly violate this 
portion of the constitution, in the very act, avow that they 
throw off the obligation of the whole constitution, or else 
they stultify themselves by maintaining that an agreement 
may be binding on one side and not on the other. It thus 
appears, that those who resist the execution of this law, 
must either occupy the position of disunionists, maintaining 
that there can be no union binding which allows to either 
side so immoral a practice as that of slaveholding, or they 
are mere rebels against the authority of a just law, and to 
be coerced accordingly. 

But if it should be attempted by the general government 
to adopt a policy adverse to the clause of the constitution 
which provides for the remanding of fugitive slaves, it is 
justly to be apprehended that the Southern States would 
resist the execution of a policy so directly in conflict with 
their constitutional rights, and so a collision be produced 
which might issue in a dissolution of the union. 

At this point, then, I would ask of all those who are dis- 
posed to act according to the dictates of their highest 
duty, but who oppose conscientiously the system of slavery, 
3 



^8 



•whether they are clearly convinced that it is a part of their 
duty to resist the laws of their country, and whether they 
are prepared for the results which are likely to ensue from 
such a course. 

But it may be said in reply, that the South will scarcely 
be willing to risk the dismemberment of the government 
upon this question — that they are too fully convinced of 
the inestimable advantages of the union to allow any other 
interest to weigh against those which they would lose in 
parting from it. And this is indeed an argument of some 
force, for the people of the slave holding States are as sin- 
cerely attached to the union as any of their Northern 
brethren can be. But such an argument does not come 
with much appropriateness from those who are themselves 
engaged in forcing an issue upon a question most likely to 
strain the bonds of the union to their utmost tension. 

But however great reliance is placed upon the loyalty 
of the South to the union, and the improbability of their 
sacrificing its advantages, even for just cause of discontent, 
yet it should be carefully inquired as to the extent of the 
interests which they have at stake, in order to come to any 
reasonable conclusion as to the course they are likely to 
pursue. It appeared that at the time of the formation of 
the union, the Southern States were only willing to enter 
into it upon a settlement of the position of slavery which 
was satisfactory to themselves. And it is well known that 
the interest which they have now at stake is very much 
greater than it was at the time of the adoption of the con- 
stitution, owing to the increase in the extent and populous- 
ness of their territory. And if, at that day, when every 
State was alive to the imperative necessity for union, they 
still withheld their assent to it until they had secured the 
interests of their slave property ; is it reasonable to sup- 
pose that they will now submit quietly to an infringment of 
those rights which they were so careful to establish in the 
beginning ? 



19 



I am convinced that a consideration of the points thus 
briefly sketched, and a careful examination of the ques- 
tions to which I have merely attempted to direct attention, 
■will bring every candid mind to the conviction, that a gita- 
tions in opposition to the laws on the subject of slavery, are 
fraught with danger to the peace and integrity of our 
country, and are in direct violation of high moral obliga- 
tions, which rest upon every citizen, to maintain the faith of 
the constitutional compact. 

It may be that there are some persons whose feelings or 
prejudices are so thoroughly enlisted in opposition to the 
system of slavery, that they can be influenced by no consid- 
eration to suspend hostilities against it, so long as there is 
any prospect of succeeding in their object. To this class 
there is good reason to assign the enthusiastic authoress 
whose writings have been alluded to. 

And I suppose that the holders of this creed are capable 
of consulting upon the practicability and fitness of the 
measures they would adopt for carrying out their views, 
and are desirous of taking such as are most likely to issue 
successfully. 

The ultimate object they have in view is the entire re- 
moval of the institution of slavery from the country ; and 
in this desire, I am free to declare, that there are many in- 
dividuals at the South who concur. The only difference 
between us is a question of the means by which this very 
desirable end is to be attained — and a very wide differ- 
ence as to the relative importance of securing this object, 
and maintaining the integrity of our country. For whilst it 
would seem to be their doctrine " Let the union he destroy- 
ed, but slavery shall he aholished" we would proclaim, 
" Let us preserve the union, and slavery may in time he 
aholished." As before remarked, I think there can be no 
doubt that the agitation of these questions between the 
different sections of the country has already exerted, and 



20 



will continue to exert, a most injurious influence upon the 
cause which the agitators are supposed to favor. 

This will be evident to any one who will inquire what is 
to be the practical end to these agitations. Is it proposed 
to convert the whole slave holding community to the opinions 
of their opponents, and to open their eyes to a perception 
of the enormities of the system ? If this be the design, it 
is certainly a legitimate one ; but the means of its accom- 
plishment can scarcely be reckoned politic. It is indeed a 
notorious fact, which has come frequently under the obser- 
vation of the author, that since the recent public agitations 
of these questions, many persons who were before desirous 
and even anxious to find some means of ridding themselves 
of the responsibility of the slave system, have, within the 
past three years, very materially changed in their feelings 
and opinions, owing to the factious opposition made to the 
passage and execution of a law which they felt to be con- 
stitutional and just. And if persuasion is not the design of 
the agitators, it can only be intended to coerce the slave- 
holding States into an adoption of measures for abolishing 
the system of slavery. But, all other objections aside, is 
this practicable ? We would not be found indulging in 
speculations as to the measure of strength between any two 
sections of our country, or the probable issue of a conflict 
between them. For even to speak of these things would 
seem to imply that there is cause to apprehend the coming 
of such events. 

We merely allude to them to show the absurdity of the 
conclusions to which the promoters of opposition to the laws 
must come, if their doctrines lead to any practical issue at 
all. 

Not that we entertain the opinion that there now really 
exists any danger to the union from this source ; though 
there has been danger, and that of a very threatening 
aspect, within a few years past, from the same cause. The 



21 



people of the country at large were then fully enough con- 
vinced of the risk incurred by agitating the questions con- 
nected with slavery, to give a wholesome inclination to their 
sentiments upon the subject. And although it is not im- 
possible that the reckless agitation of the same questions 
may in time produce similar or worse aspects of danger, 
yet the probability is, that there is no further occasion for 
alarm, and that the only actual result of the continuation 
of these agitations by the comparatively small faction of the 
" higher law " advocates which is left in the country, will 
be to retard the only practicable operations which have 
been in progress for the alleviation of the evils against 
which they profess to contend. 

I think it is sufficient to direct the attention of all well 
meaning advocates of what they believe to be a good cause, 
to such views as these, in order to convince them that a 
course of opposition to the laws is any thing else than their 
best policy. 

PART II. 

Having now presented a sketch of the origin and con- 
dition of the system of slavery in America, and its position 
in reference to the general government ; and having 
endeavored to call attention to some of the dangers atten- 
dant upon the agitation of questions connected with the 
subject, between the different sections of the union ; it 
becomes my business to speak of the matter on another 
side, and to ask the serious attention of the slaveholding 
community to a brief review of their own position and 
obligations in relation to this subject. 

I approach this part of my subject the more readily, and 
with greater confidence, as I feel convinced that I shall 
here be less liable to be misinterpreted under the suspicion 
that my opinions are biased by the prejudices of educa- 



22 



tion or the habits of association. And to secure this 
advantage in the estimation of my Southern readers, it may 
be necessary to state, that I am a member of the slave- 
holding community, and that all my feelings and interests 
are most intimately connected with those upon whom rests 
the burden and responsibility of that position. 

In order to obtain a just estimate of the position we 
occupy, it will be necessary to look with scrutiny to the 
origin of our title to keep in servitude the descendants of 
the African race in our country, 

I am aware that there are some persons who maintain 
that the right of property in slaves rests upon the same 
ground as the right to any other species of property. They 
can only claim, however, to derive the original title to 
slaves from the rights supposed to be acquired by conquer- 
ors in war over the lives and liberties of their captives. 
But it needs no argument to show that no such belligerent 
right as this is recognized by modern nations. It is 
universally conceded that the practice of the ancients in 
this respect was barbarous, and unworthy of the imitation of 
those who are more enlightened than they ; and the doc- 
trine that slavery lawfully ensues upon captivity, is long 
since rejected from the code of international law, as being 
against nature and the law of humanity. But even if such 
a practice were now generally recognized, as that of 
enslaving the captives taking in regular warfare, this 
would not extend to legalizing the trade in African slaves, 
which was commenced more than two hundred years ago, to 
this country. For it is a part of the history of that trade, 
and of the cruelties which have ever attended it, that it 
took its origin in the custom of European vessels frequent- 
ing the African coast, for the purchase of slaves, inciting 
the native tribes to wage petty wars among themselves for 
the sole purpose of supplying that inhumane traffic, and 
thus gratifying their own avarice. Indeed, innumerable in- 



23 



stances are recorded of the native African chiefs making 
indiscriminate warfare upon their own as well as neighbor- 
ing tribes, and dragging away from their homes the wretch- 
ed victims of their cruelty to be sold into foreign slavery. 
As a mere question of title, then, it would seem that this 
origin cannot be pleaded as fully satisfactory, even to those 
who are most inclined by their interest to maintain its 
validity. From this source our system of slavery had its 
beginning ; and its maintenance ever since has depended 
upon the exercise of superior force, modified, of course, by 
the various accidents and attachments which, in some in- 
stances, have arisen out of the relation of master and 
servant during the lapse of several generations. In view 
of these truths, I think that no candid inquirer can rest our 
title to the maintenance of this institution upon original or 
abstract right. How much then does it become us, who 
are partakers of the inestimable privileges of liberty and 
the right to the pursuit of happiness in our own way, to be 
cautious that we do not unnecessarily deprive our fellow 
men of the advantages we so highly prize for ourselves. How 
careful should we, who founded our claim to national in- 
dependence upon the equality of rights in all men, be, to 
avoid the charge of inconsistency between our declarations 
and our practices in this respect. It is not surely a light mat- 
ter for a nation to subject itself, in the eyes of the civilized 
world, to the charge of an inconsistency so glaring as that 
of the assumption of universal rights when speaking of one 
class of men, and no rights at all when speaking of another. 
It becomes us to be cautious lest we give occasion for our 
good to be evil spoken of; for we are a nation composed of 
moral and responsible men, and are accountable for the in- 
fluence of our example upon the world, to the present and 
to future ages. We do not live to ourselves alone ; nor is the 
pursuit of our own selfish interest the highest object to 
which, as a nation, we should look. According to the 



24 



advantages we enjoy and the light in which we hve, we 
are accountable to the cause of humanity and to the Ruler 
of the universe. We cannot plead the practice of men of 
other ages and nations in justification of that which we are 
taught, by the light of Christianity, to be in violation of 
humanity and good morals. As well might we make a plea 
of precedent, (against our own knowledge,) in one respect 
as in another ; and if we adopt a part of the code of 
morality of the pagan world, in opposition to our own light, 
we might in the same manner adopt the, whole, and justify 
ourselves by a reference to the example of those refined 
nations of antiquity who practised many things which are 
not countenanced by the laws of modern and more enlight- 
ened nations. 

It is certainly true that the opinion of the abstract right 
of slavery is not very generally held, and where it exists, 
may be often attributed to the feeling of opposition 
which has too frequently been called into exercise by the 
unwarrantable interference of factious opponents to the 
laws. But whilst comparatively a small number of the 
slaveholding community are found who avow the opinion 
that slavery is founded in justice, there is a very large pro- 
portion who look upon the condition of things with an indif- 
ference which is the effect of habit, and who, whilst they 
would acknowledge, (were their attention called to the sub- 
ject,) that the system cannot be justified upon any princi- 
ple of right, yet trouble themselves very little about the 
matter, as if it were a condition that existed without their 
agency, and with the remedy for which, they could not be 
supposed to have anything to do. My desire is, to call the 
attention of all such persons — of all right-thinking and 
right feeling men — to their duties and responsibilities in 
reference to this momentous subject. It is vain for us to 
say that our fathers have entailed the evils upon us, and if 
there be any fault, it lies with them. For we know that 



25 



there are sins of the fathers which may be visited upon 
their chidren, more especially if those children continue in 
the toleration of the very practices whose hereditary 
effects they have reason to fear. It is not asserted that it 
is criminal for us, in the peculiar circumstances in which 
we are placed, to hold slaves. For it is certain that in 
most instances it is impracticable to change immediately the 
condition of things which has so long existed, and that any 
sudden measures used for the emancipation of our slaves 
would be equally injurious to themselves, and impolitic in 
relation to our own interests. But it is undoubtedly true, 
that the relation which exists between master and slave, 
whether assumed voluntarily or not, does bring with it a 
weight of responsibility to the former, which is very imper- 
fectly realized by the majority of those on whom it rests. 
Is it asked, in what consists the peculiarity of this re- 
sponsibihty, rendering it greater than that which exists 
ordinarily between man and man ? I would reply, by a 
statement which no one will deny, that there are degrees of 
reponsibility resting upon us, differing according to the 
nature of the relation in which we stand ; and that the 
highest degree of responsibility attaches to those relations 
which are closest in their nature, most lasting in their 
duration, and which afford us the most opportunity or 
power of influencing those to whom we are so connected. 
And first, the intimacy of relation between master and 
slave is of a very near degree, arising out of the absolute 
control which is exercised on the one side, and the entire 
dependence which belongs to the other. The duration of 
the relation lasts through life, subject only to the will of the 
master to be shortened. And in every respect the power 
and position of a master of slaves gives him opportunities 
for exerting a very great influence over their moral con- 
dition by the force of his example and authority. 
4 



26 



The nature of the relations between master and slave are 
peculiar, and to a very important degree, distinct from the 
ordinary condition of master and servant, where the rela- 
tion depends upon the choice and voluntary agreement of 
both parties ; and manifestly, the former bears with it a 
much higher degree of accountability than the latter. All 
who are sensible of the responsible nature of the position 
they hold towards their slaves, must be conscious of the 
peculiar difficulties and hindrances which surround them in 
the fulfilment of the duties of their station. And that 
there are peculiar difficulties and trials attending it, may, 
I think, be accounted for on the general principle, that, 
whilst every other relation in life, is according to the course 
of nature, this one is against nature. Men have assumed 
the position to themselves without law, and against the law 
of their own consciences. And in so doing they have 
taken upon themselves a weight whose magnitude they 
could not estimate until it was felt. Would that all might 
rightly estimate it upon whom it comes ! 

It may be observed as a part of the universal fitness of 
things to the ends for which a wise providence has design- 
ed them, that those relations in life which arise in the 
course of nature, and which from their circumstances in- 
volve the highest degree of responsibility, are attended by 
the strongest auxiliaries to the fulfilment of the duties they 
impose, in the instincts and affections which are implanted 
in our nature, and which are called into exercise as the 
several relations arise. 

The relations of husband and wife, of parent and child, 
of brother and sister, the nearest ties of connexion and 
consanguinity, whilst they impose the exercise of the high- 
est duties, and involve the greatest responsibility in the 
discharge of those duties, are usually secured of their per- 
formance, at least to a very great degree, by the natural 
inclinations and affections of the heart, tending in the 



27 



direction -wbich duty would indicate. Who but a parent 
can fully realize the Aveight of accountability that rests 
upon him for a faithful discharge of the trust committed to 
his hands in the training and education of his children ? 
And this accountability is founded upon the dependent con- 
dition of the child in respect to his parents. To them belongs 
the care of providing during infancy for his every want, 
and in after years for the training and development of his 
moral and intellectual faculties. And what hindrances and 
difficulties arise in the way of the due fulfilment of these 
duties, involving the exercise of the greatest self-denial and 
the most unwearied devotion for their proper discharge. 

And yet there is implanted in the nature of every 
parent a principle, which, duly cultivated, enables them to 
undertake and accomplish the arduous task. That princi- 
ple is parental love, and to no other could so important a 
trust be safely committed. But even this strong element 
of our nature is often at fault in the discharge of these 
duties, and like every other part of the fallen nature of 
man, requires the strong support of a religious faith. 

It is true of every other natural relation in life, that 
there are aifections in our nature corresponding with the 
duties they impose ; along with the increase of duty comes 
the inclination for its performance. But the case is very 
different in respect of the relation of master and slave. In 
this condition is involved the weight of responsibility with- 
out any of those natural auxiliaries for its discharge, but 
with many obstacles in the way, arising out of the very 
nature and terms of the condition. It is clearly a primary 
duty of ever}'' one who occupies a position of responsibility, 
to inculcate upon his dependents, by example as Avell as 
precept, the obligations of morality, and in a christian com- 
munity, the obligation of christian principles. But sound 
instruction in both these systems, of morals and Chris- 
tianity, involves the teaching of the precept of universal 



28 



benevolence and the golden rule of doing to others as vie 
would have them do to us. And if these precepts are pre- 
sented to the mind of a slave capable of the simplest train 
of reasoning, is it not plain, if he has the slightest cause for 
discontent "with his station, that the thought will at once 
arise in his heart, " Why then am I held in bondage, and 
forced to yield my will to another, not for my own good, but 
for his profit ? — Surely here is example against precept ; 
and how can I give credit to the teachings of one who 
denies by his practice what he declares in words ? " And 
the only way in which an answer can be given to this 
simple and cogent reasoning, is by the exercise of the 
greatest benevolence and forbearance towards our slaves, 
and a constant evidence of our deep concern for their best 
interests. 

These considerations may be sufficient to show to the 
conscientious believer in the original justice of a slave sys- 
tem, the greatness of the difficulties he must encounter, in 
the performance of the first duty which his part in such a 
system imposes upon him. And is it not sufficient to open 
his eyes to the evils of the system, seeing this difficulty is 
an inseparable part of it ? 

It is the efiect of slavery to remove from the minds of its 
subjects one of the first and most powerful motives to the 
practice of industry and virtue, by depriving them of all 
control over the fruits of their own labor, and by making it 
dependent upon the will of another, whether their best 
efforts shall result in any tangible good to themselves ; 
and being deprived of this incentive to activity, it follows 
very readily, that the natural inclination of all men to indo- 
lence and vice gains the ascendency when there seems to 
be so little to hope for in contending against it. 

In considering our own connection with the institution of 
slavery, it will be of more practical utility to look to the 
actual condition of the system as it is among ourselves and 



29 



to consider the evils and abuses to which it is liable, than 
to spend our time in arguing about its origin or the right of 
its establishment. For whatever differences of opinion may 
prevail as to the latter question, there is no occasion for 
doubt upon the other. It is a matter about which facts 
can be adduced on all sides to show the existence of abuses. 
And although it may with propriety be argued that the 
general aspect of the condition of slaves in the Southern 
States is not darkened by the practise of those outward in- 
stances of oppression and cruelty Avhich are repugnant to 
humanity, it is nevertheless certain that there are evils in- 
cident to the system which can only be alleviated by the 
exercise of the most considerate benevolence. 

In commenting upon the evils of the system, I think 
there can be no language more fully expressive of its 
realities, and none which can come to us with more weight 
of authority on the subject, than that made use of by a dis- 
tinguished member of the Federal Convention, to whom 
allusion was made before, who was himself a native of Vir- 
ginia, and a slaveholder at the time. He declared that it 
was his belief, " that slaves brought the judgment of 
heaven on a country, and that such a national sin would in 
all probability be punished by national calamities." And 
such language as this has been held by some of our most 
distinguished statesmen at the South since the formation of 
our government down to the present time. But it is not 
necessary to rest upon precedent or authority in such a 
matter as this. They may be usefully consulted as col- 
lateral supports to the principles which our own reason and 
sense of duty point out to us. But we can see for ourselves 
and rightly estimate the measure of our responsibility to an 
enslaved and dependant race of men, to whom we owe a 
duty so long as they are under our power and protection, 
which consists not merely in the supply — it may be in the 
liberal supply — of their bodily wants, but concerning whom 



30 



there rests upon us a weight of accountabihty for their 
moral and spiritual welfare, which does not fall far short of 
the responsibility which rests upon a father for the proper 
trainino; of his children. It is further evident to us that 
the difficulties in the way of that moral culture which we 
owe to our slaves are such, that it is next to an impossibility 
so to counteract those obstacles as to discharge our duties 
effectively, so long as we maintain the system of slavery 
without an effort for its alleviation or removal. 

It not unfrequently happens that when the attention of 
men is called to any subject, in which they are immediately 
concerned even, and of whose importance they are fully con- 
vinced, if there are difficulties to be encountered at the 
commencement of the course which reason and duty points 
out to them, they are too liable to rest content with their good 
intentions and correct views of the matter ; and whilst they 
lament the existence of the difficulties, take no measures to 
mitigate or remove them. This has, doubtless, been the 
experience of many individuals in reference to the matter 
in hand. I know that there are many who are even now fully 
alive to the claims of this subject upon their attention and 
their active exertions. And yet how few have done any 
thing towards the accomplishment of the objects which it 
presents to their view. And the cause too frequently as- 
signed for this inaction seems parodoxical : that the magni- 
tude of the work is such as to discourage all efforts for its 
accomplishment. 

It can only be replied to such an excuse, that there is all 
the more urgent occasion for prompt and active endeavors 
on the part of all who entertain correct ideas of their duty 
in the premises, not only that they may aid the cause by 
their own efforts, but may awaken others around them to a 
perception of the same duties. 

The first question which presents itself to our notice, is 
the means to be adopted for the amelioration of the con- 



31 



ditlon of the slaves in this country. This is an inquiry ^vhich 
comes home to every individual in his own domestic con- 
cerns, — what each one must do in his own particular case for 
the good of those dependant upon him. And this is a 
question which can only be fully met by the determination 
of each one to see that he does not neglect to make the in- 
quiry into the moral wants of his slaves, and to take such 
measures for their instruction and supply as may be within 
his reach. It is here proposed merely to awaken attention 
to the importance of this duty. Its performance belongs in 
a great measure to the separate efforts of every individual 
•who has a share in the responsibility. 

Another question which I conceive to be of primary im- 
portance is, the means to be employed for the final removal 
of the institution of slavery from our land. To this end, as 
the ultimate of our desires on the subject, our whole argu- 
ment has tended. And I am convinced that there are 
multitudes among the slaveholding community who are 
anxiously looking forward to the accomplishment of this 
great object. And it is my earnest desire that such should 
be the purpose and opinion of every individual connected 
with the institution. 

I think that it will sufficiently appear upon examination, 
that the means for the ultimate accomplishment of the 
desired end is to be found in the operations of a scheme 
which has been already begun, and in which sufficient suc- 
cess has been attained to give a good presage for the 
future. I refer to the plan of African Colonization, an 
operation which, whatever may have been the opposition or 
the contempt and indifference which it has received at some 
hands, can but justly be characterized as one of the noblest 
efforts and most disinterested examples of philanthropic 
devotion and energy in the cause of suffering humanity, 
which has been witnessed in this or any other age. This 
cause comes recommended to the favorable consideration of 



32 



all benevolent and moderate men, as well by its own intrin- 
sic merit, as from the fact that it has met with most oppo- 
sition from those who have held the most ultra and intem- 
perate opinions on both sides of the slave questions. 

The plan of African Colonization had its origin, to use 
the language of a distinguished advocate of the cause, " in 
a great political and moral necessity." The idea was first 
conceived, and a plan of operation proposed, by some of the 
earliest and best statesmen of Virginia, who as early as the 
first year of the commonwealth, submitted a scheme to the 
legislature for the colonization of the free colored popula- 
tion of the State ; a plan which was defeated at the time, 
owing to the extent of operations which it contemplated. 
And since that day the same cause has from time to time 
been ably advocated and finally put into practical operation 
by the united efforts of some of the most distinguished 
statesmen of our country, by the organization of the 
American Colonization Society, which was instituted in the 
year 1817. 

The basis upon which this society stands, as declared by 
the second article of its Constitution, is the colonization of 
the free colored population of our country to Africa ; a 
design against which no reasonable objection can be oflFered. 
And although many witnesses have been found in times 
past to speak against this noble enterprise, yet none have 
appeared whose testimony agreed together, or appeared on 
examination to be worthy of credence. 

This society occupies no questionable ground, either as a 
means of promoting or retarding a system of emancipation ; 
and both these charges have been made against it from 
adverse quarters. It should stand in open view before the 
country, and before the world, avowing in its constitution, 
and by its course of steady, unobtrusive, but progressive ac- 
tion, what are the objects, and the sole objects of its founda- 
tion. To this institution I would point with confidence as 



33 



the instrument by wliose agency we shall in time be 
enabled to accomplish all that philanthropy and justice — 
to say nothing of good policy — require to be done for 
the benefit of the African race, and for the restoration to 
their natural rights, of that portion of them who have lived 
in bondage among us so many generations. It were need- 
less for me further to dwell upon the objects and prospects 
of the American Colonization Society, or to undertake any 
sketch of what it has already accomplished. There are 
abler pens than mine which may be enlisted in its cause 
when occasion demands. The matter is no longer in a 
corner ; the records of its history, and the details of its 
operations, are becoming a part of the political annals of our 
country ; and the attention which has been of late attached 
to the subject is an indication, as well of its steady growth 
in prosperity, as of the favorable aspect in which its claims 
are comin<:!; to be re2;arded. 

If it be objected to the scheme of colonization, that it is 
inadequate as a remedy for the evils against which its 
operations are conducted, I would reply, that in its present 
condition it is undoubtedly too weak for the accomplish- 
ment, single handed, of the work of removing the whole of 
the colored population of this country to Africa, if they 
were in a condition to be removed. The society is yet in 
its infancy, in comparison to the maturity and extent of 
operations of which it is capable ; and its complete and 
rapid development depends only upon the increase of active 
and benevolent co-operators throughout the country. It 
is thus within the reach of every individual to promote, by 
his personal efforts, the extension of a cause which com- 
mends itself most strongly to the sympathies and aid of all 
lovers of their country and their kind. 

I have thus imperfectly endeavored to call attention, and 
to awaken reflection on the subject of the real condition 
and position of the institution of slavery among us. And 
o 



34 



all will admit that the matter is of sufficient importance to 
demand a clear understanding of its condition, and correct 
views upon the questions arising out of its existence. And 
if, in treating of these, I have advanced any opinion which 
is calculated to excite the prejudices or opposition of any 
party or section, it will be a matter of regret to me, inas- 
much as my object is to persuade, and not to give cause of 
offence. But of this I am convinced, that no fact which I 
have stated can be controverted ; and the deductions from 
them are so obvious that I do not fear to have failed in 
that part of the undertaking. And my belief is, that the 
promulgation of truth, how much soever it may excite 
the opposition of the narrow minded and prejudiced, will 
eventually issue in benefit to the cause in which it is 
uttered. 



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